14 January, 2014
BROOKLYN, New York, January 8, 2014. – The Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) received a grant of $10,000.00 from The Marvin and Sylvia Rubin Family Foundation to support its new maternal-child project in Peru.
Through a 2013 Commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)—Improving Malnutrition and Maternal Health in Lima—starting January 2014, BRA will scale up a program to improve early childhood and maternal nutrition from Haiti and the Dominican Republic to 19 vulnerable and poverty-stricken urban communities in Peru. Click here to watch a video script of the Commitment.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), micronutrients are essential for good health—when lacking proper amounts, especially during pregnancy, serious health complications result. 1/3 of deaths in children ages five and under is caused by malnutrition. “This is a serious issue we are committed to addressing in Peru, where 34.8% of Peruvians live below the poverty line and maternal mortality is 98 deaths per every 100,000 births, the majority of which are due to micronutrient deficiency,” said Stella Rubin, the foundation’s President.
Ulrick Gaillard, BRA’s CEO added, “We will organize, train and dispatch 150 Community Health Promoters to distribute multivitamins, Vitamin A and antiworm medicines on a quarterly basis for two years to schools, medical clinics, and community centers that serve children and women. Additionally, our Health Promoters will educate entire communities about health crises and prevention techniques, including hygiene, prenatal care, water-borne diseases, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS.”
Over the course of two years, the Batey Relief Alliance will reach and improve the health and lives of 2,000 children and 450 pregnant and nursing women.
The Marvin and Sylvia Rubin Family Foundation was established in 2005. Its main areas of work address social, health and educational issues. According to Ms. Rubin, in 2013, the Foundation broadened its scope to include international as well as national programs. Increasingly, the Foundation is supporting women’s issues and toward that end, has begun a program in Xochistlahuaca, Mexico with a group of women weavers, with the short term goal of increasing market opportunities for the weavers, many of whom are single or heads of households.
